Know Your Target Market

It’s important to know this because you need to make sure that your marketing is “talking” directly to them.

You should know who your product or service is directed at.

• Domestic (residential) or Commercial (business to business) market
• Wholesale or retail market
• What the average age range of your customers is (if it is important)
• Where most of your customers live
• What type of publications they read
• If they work
• What they do for fun

This builds you a profile on your average customer and allows you to figure out where you marketing dollars are best spent.

So how do you get this info? ASK

1. You may do a short survey with a prize for one lucky winner.
2. You may just build a relationship with the client and over time build up the profile in your database programme.
3. You might have a Website Poll.

Once you are aware of who your average customer is – then you can start to think about ways to talk to these specific groups of people in the most appropriate way.

For example – you wouldn’t talk to a teenager the same way you would talk to a tradesman who has been in business for 15 years.  Nor would you talk to a business owner the same way you would approach a residential occupant.

Think about what you are saying and who you are talking to, speak their language and lay out your offer clearly. Big words make you look like you’ve eaten a dictionary and appear fairly pompous, whereas simple straight forward language will speak to a much wider audience and you’ll find you’ll get more success.

Know what your competitors are up to

You need to know where you stand in the market against your competitors. The only way to do this is to research them.

• Judge your service / product against theirs.
• Judge your prices against theirs
• Judge your customer service against theirs (vital)
• Make sure you know your USP (unique selling proposition) – why are you different and why would a customer come to you over your competitor?

You need to make sure that your product/service has its own merits, and that you know what they are and why your customer should choose you over your competitor.  This is your USP and you need to make sure you are marketing this solidly.